Around The Nation

TECHNOLOGY

TiVo's chief
to call it quits

SAN JOSE, CALIF. - Mike Ramsay, the co-founder of digital video recording pioneer TiVo, is stepping down as chief executive, as the company struggles to fend off stiffening competition.

Ramsay, 55, said Wednesday he will remain as the board chair-
man but will give up the helm, which he held for eight years, after a successor is found.

DRUGS

FDA gives warning
to Pfizer over ads

WASHINGTON - The
Food and Drug Administration
has warned Pfizer that television and print advertisements for its painkillers Celebrex and Bextra misled consumers, according to a letter made public Wednes-
day.

Five ads did not disclose side effects and other risk inform-
ation and made "unsubstan-
tiated effectiveness claims," the FDA said. A company spokes-
woman said the Celebrex ads cited by the FDA were no longer running.

EARNINGS

Apple quadruples
last year's sales

SAN JOSE, CALIF. - Apple Computer's first-quarter earnings more than quadrupled, dramatically exceeding Wall Street expectations, based on strong holiday sales of laptop computers and its wildly popular iPod music players.

For the three months that ended Dec. 25, Apple said it earned $295 million, or 70 cents per share. In the period last year, it earned $63 million, or 17 cents per share.

IN OTHER NEWS ...

• Health services giant
McKesson Corp.
said it has agreed to repay shareholders $960 million to settle a class-action lawsuit related to an accounting scandal that has resulted in criminal convictions of several former executives.

•
US Airways
, trying to prevent another breakdown in service like the one that took place over the Christmas holiday, said it plans to add more than 200 employees in Philadelphia. The airline said it would import workers who have been laid off in Pittsburgh. The company said starting pay for part-time workers would increase from $7.40 an hour to $9.59 an hour.
•Internet equipment maker
Cisco Systems
said it would acquire privately held Airespace for $450 million in stock and assumed options, a move that expands Cisco's offerings in the growing market for wireless data transmission.
•
Banc One Securities
has been fined $400,000 by securities regulators who said the investment firm failed to supervise brokers to prevent the illegal late trading of mutual fund shares and that it falsely recorded customer orders, the

NASD
announced.
•
SunTrust Banks
said the
SEC
has issued subpoenas for documents as part of a formal investigation of its financial statements.